58-year-old man killed in Royal Oak house explosion

Special To The Oakland Press/LIZ CARNEGIE A Royal Oak firefighter stands in debris caused by the explosion of a home on Cooper Ave. in Royal Oak. Neighbors reported that the explosion occurred around 5:00 PM with a loud boom followed by their homes shaking and windows shattering. This view was taken at about 7:45 PM looking north on Cooper Ave, one block in from Normandy. Police had the area blocked off and fire trucks and other emergency vehicles were directly in front of the explosion site. No one was being allowed to get close to the location

A 58-year-old man is dead after a massive explosion at a home in the 4000 block of Cooper Avenue in Royal Oak Wednesday evening.

The explosion occurred shortly before 5 p.m. Wednesday, just off Woodward and north of 13 Mile, and could be felt miles away, according to multiple people who came to the scene.

The destroyed remains of the leveled home littered the street, and firefighters were attempting to put out a large fire more than two hours after the explosion.

Further details about the victim were not available Wednesday night.

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Debra Dodd, spokeswoman for Consumers Energy, said the cause of the explosion is unknown.

"Everything is still under investigation," Dodd said at the scene shortly before 8 p.m. Wednesday.

"We're obviously working with the local police and fire department."

A call about a possible explosion came in at 4:55 p.m., Dodd said. Gas to that home was shut off at 6:37 p.m.

"We are walking up and down the streets checking for the presence of gas in the two-block radius near the explosion site," Dodd said.

"We do understand there was at least one fatality and obviously our hearts go out to that victim's family."

Dodd was not aware of any other injuries.

A three-person Consumers Energy crew was working in the area before the explosion Wednesday. A piece of equipment was parked a few houses away from the site of the explosion.

"We do not know if that is part of the cause," Dodd said.

"It will all be part of the investigation."

More than 30 homes suffered some type of damage from the explosion. Several homes had broken windows or damaged siding.

"Obviously we want to secure the area and make sure everyone is safe, and then we have to basically just sift through evidence," Dodd said.

"We have to try to recover the gas meter if it's not too heavily damaged, test the pipe coming to the home, the gas service -- there's a lot of different steps and it could take weeks or months to determine what actually happened."

Dodd could not confirm reports of people smelling gas in the area in the days leading up to the explosion.

"A lot of times, unfortunately, people do smell gas and don't call us promptly," she said.

"I'm not saying that's what happened in this case, but that's why we always say the minute you smell gas, call us."

Gary Berschbach, who lives in the area of 14 Mile and Main Street in Clawson, said he could feel the explosion at his home nearly three miles away.

"I was sitting on the couch and heard the big bang," Berschbach said.

"The cat flew off of me. It felt like there was an explosion outside of my house."

Bill Stevens, who lives near the explosion site, said his vehicle was "covered in ashes.'

Stevens also noticed an elderly woman who was covered in debris walking around in a daze immediately after the blast, though she appeared to be fine.

A woman who arrived at the scene around 7 p.m. Friday could be heard screaming "No! No! No!" before embracing another person.

Consumers Energy provided hotel accommodations for those who were unable to return to their homes Wednesday night.

A local Twitter user, @mfharland, said, "We live north of 14 mile and felt the blast shake the windows!"

Here are some tweets from people who were affected by the explosion.

Had to evacuate at work because of a nearby explosion in the building...#Detroit